New foundation aims to improve life in local parishes

Tuesday

Oct 9, 2012 at 8:44 PM

A new community foundation aims to improve life in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.

Nikki BuskeyStaff Writer

A new community foundation aims to improve life in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.The Bayou Community Foundation was launched by residents of both parishes in an effort to establish a large community nonprofit organization that can attract and manage donations for education, coastal, and health and human service projects in the region.“The Bayou Community Foundation will allow us to do great things for our communities,” said Charlotte Bollinger, one of the founding members of the foundation. “We will be able to attract critical resources needed to improve the quality of life for all.”The board members of the Bayou Community Foundation include Chair Alexis Duval, Vice Chair J.J. Buquet III, Secretary Danna E. Schwab and Treasurer Edward Bouterie. Other board members include Bollinger, Al Danos, Jr., Berwick Duval, Felicia Frederick, Stephen Peltier and Koti Sangisetty.Berwick Duval, a Houma attorney, said he saw the need for a community foundation when he served on the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.Many other communities around the state had foundations that made it easier for them to gain grants and other donations to help with recovery.“During that process, although Terrebonne and Lafourche did receive some grants, it was more difficult to get funds than communities that had community foundations,” Alexis Duval said.The Houma-Thibodaux area is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the state but doesn't have one of these community foundations, Berwick Duval said.A collection of residents with similar ambitions came together to launch the foundation, and after hurricanes Gustav and Ike and the BP oil spill, they knew it was time to get it done.Restore or Retreat Executive Director Simone Maloz loaned some of her experience to help get the project off the ground. She approached the Greater New Orleans Foundation, which had helped to launch similar community foundations in St. Bernard, Plaquemines and Jefferson parishes.The Greater New Orleans Foundation helped set up the Bayou Community Foundation as a donor-advised fund, an affiliate to the Greater New Orleans Foundation under its nonprofit umbrella. The Bayou Community Foundation has access to its expertise but makes independent decisions about its projects.Local nonprofit groups such as the Lafourche Education Foundation and the Terrebonne Foundation for Academic Excellence are also run this way.“Leadership like this strengthens the entire region,” said Albert Ruesga, president and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Foundation. “We are proud to partner with the founding members of the Bayou Community Foundation because they understand how the power of philanthropy can transform communities.”The foundation is getting down to business, Alexis Duval said. The board elected officers last week and are outlining their governing rules. The first order of business for the newly formed Bayou Community Foundation is to contract with a coordinator who will report to the board.They've begun raising money to begin philanthropic work. The group has received a $500,000 grant from the Gheens Foundation in Lafourche to begin launching its work over the next five years and will be raising $1 million in matching dollars.The foundation has committed to putting at least 90 percent of its first $100,000 from the Gheens Foundation back into the community, so Alexis Duval said it plans to get to work quickly accepting grant applications. The foundation hopes to get to work around the new year.“The coastal communities are facing some tough challenges,” Bollinger said. “We will use the Bayou Community Foundation to attract national and local philanthropic dollars to invest in our sustainability. Together with our philanthropic partners we can create a place that will be enjoyed for generations to come.”For more information about the Bayou Community Foundation, contact Josephine Everly at the Greater New Orleans Foundation at (504) 598-4663.

Nikki Buskey can be reached at 857-2205 or nicole.buskey@houmatoday.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.